Keeping the Promise
by Temp 777
Summary: The story of what takes place after the D-Reaper incident and the Digimon are warped back to the Digtal World. This is the story of how Takato keeps his promise to his best friend. Rated T just in case, but it'll run smoothly I think.
1. Prologue Part 1: ReDiscover

So, this is my story. I hope it goes well, being this is my first FF. Really I don't often promote unoriginality. But I just felt that this particular series had such a powerful plot and story, and that it ended so sadly. Anyway, being as that everyone else was doing, I figured I'd give up that unoriginality taboo and try it for once. So without further ado, lets try our best to get Takato to feel better, haha! XD This first chapter is more or less clearing up the last 2 minutes of Tamers. While I am being unoriginal for once, I am trying to stick to the plot line as best as I can. So if this is all familiar, I'll consider that somewhat of a good thing. '^~^

Also, my thanks to Ragnarok Emissary for helping me write this. Good luck with your adventures too!

* * *

Even though I thought I'd never be the same, the world soon went back to normal. And after a while, so did I.

_"But Guilmon is meant to be with me! He's a part of me! I promised him we'd always be together, I promised!"_

Life became exactly the way it was before I met Guilmon. Kazu still made bad jokes and Ms. Nami still gave too much homework.

_"No! This can't be! I won't let it happen!"_

Sometimes I go by our old hangouts just to see if he's there. Don't know why I bother…'cause he never is…

_"You knew, didn't you! You knew this would happen when you scanned Terriermon!"_

Most times I'm ok, but there's this one thing that bugs me.

_"Remember Takato! You promised! You promised! Takatooo…. "_

A promise I made to a friend…a promise…I don't think I can keep.

* * *

Takato awoke with a jolt from his bed, breathing with long deep gasps and his pj's drenched in sweat. It took him a moment to realize it was only a nightmare, despite the fact that this had to have been the umpteenth time he had the dream. Under normal circumstances, he might have recovered a little bit more quickly from his nightmares. But that memory was forever burned into the crevices of his brain and into his eyes, the same eyes that had been crying so much after that fateful hour.

"Geez…" Takato whispered to himself, "who knew such a cute and innocent little voice could be so…" Takato couldn't finish the sentence, his thoughts trailing back to the memory of that little voice and its beholder. It was, quite literally, mortifying to him. He hoped that he had been hiding these feelings well enough from Rika, Henry and the rest of the gang. Although sometimes he wondered if maybe they thought the same things he did.

Takato wiped his forehead of the beads of sweat before looking at his alarm clock. It read 6:30, and while this wasn't too early to the time he should be getting up for school, it was still too early for Takato. He cupped his face in his hands before slowly and groggily crawling out of bed…and then promptly fell onto the floor. He arose quickly, his tiredness disappearing, hoping his parents didn't hear the loud thump in the night…er, morning now. He went to the wall and flipped on the lights, revealing a disturbingly messy room. Granted, Takato had kept his room messy for most of his life, but it had recently undergone a transformation for the worst, and it was just pathetic now. Even more pathetic was that his clothes were somewhere in this mess, so it might as well have been his closet too.

"Someday… I AM going to clean you up, bedroom," Takato pledged to himself with a clenched fist before diving into the mess to find his clothes. He found his blue t-shirt and his jacket, thankfully he didn't find and undergarments or socks. He was cleanly enough to keep them in a drawer. He eventually found his pants too and went to throw them onto the bed with the rest of his discovered wardrobe when something hard hit his hand. As the pants fell onto the bed, he saw that the hard thing had turned out to be his old gold and red D-Arc digivice clipped onto the belt loop.

Takato paused as he stared down at the powerful device. Again, heartfelt and warming memories from nearly a year ago came rushing into his mind, only to stab him in the back when he realized that there was probably no way on Earth he could ever experience those feelings of pure happiness and exciting adventure ever again. Takato wasn't hesitant as he began to cry. He just let them flow. He sniffed as he wiped them away. "Oh…Guilmon…" he sobbed in the dark. He turned his teary eyes back to the D-Arc and reached for it. Again, like he had many times before, he looked at its screen hoping for a clue, any hint of anything about his old digimon partner's whereabouts. But like it had all times before, all it showed was a static screen. Truth be told, it was the same for each D-Arc of every tamer from Takato down to Ai and Mako. It was not unlike what Jeri's digivice had displayed right as Impmon in is Beelzemon form regrettably destroyed her partner, Leomon. And all the tamers thought the worst had happened because of this.

Takato was being pulled deeper and deeper into these dark thoughts until the sound of his parent's bedroom door opening broke him out of his trance. Takato quickly shook his head hoping to shake away the thoughts as well and wiped away any remaining tears before beginning to get dressed. Besides, it was Friday! Nobody should be sad on a Friday! "Gosh, I'm glad I don't have to go to school on Saturdays like I did in Kindergarten back a few years ago," he whispered to himself. He had successfully stopped thinking about Guilmon for the time being, and soon he had his backpack full of texts and ready for school as he ran out his bedroom door and down the steps.

His mom spotted him if not heard the ruckus he made as clambered down the small flight of stairs into the bakery. "Good morning honey! You want some breakfast before you head out to school?" Takato shook his head as he went for the bread store near the back and began to take quite a lot of their supply. "No thanks mom, I actually have to be somewhere really soon, so I'm gonna skip breakfast this morning," he told her hastily as he filled his pockets. His mother closed her eyes and tried to hide a little bit of anger. 'As if this robbery wasn't enough to tell me that…' she thought, suppressing a lecture with all her power. No doubt "somewhere" was at the playground with the rest of his friends. "Well…alright. But I expect you home for dinner as usual alright! No staying late after to school to play cards with Kazu and Kenta.

"Yeah, sure mom! I love you!" Takato ran passed his mom and out the door stuffing bread into his mouth as he went. She sighed and then giggled to herself. "I'm beginning to wonder whose stomach all that bread went into before, Takato's or-" Mie stopped as she remembered the sad ending of the D-Reaper incident many months ago. After it and after Takato had gotten over his loss more or less, he confessed that his parent's store of bread had depleted recently due to his partner's dietary needs. Mie smiled sweetly. She didn't ever know the little red dino so well, but from the stories Takato told her and of course the titanic battle her son fought with him as Gallantmon, she was sure that he wasn't so bad. Eh, so they lost of few months supply of bread and materials. So what? "I'll let it fly, but if there is ever a next time, you'll be paying for his food out of your own pocket!"

* * *

Takato smacked a card down on the play mat. "I digivolve WarGrowlmon into Gallantmon and attack to win the game. " Kazu's mouth was gaping at his loss. "G-ge…GAAAAHH! How many times are you going to beat me before I start holding the winning streaks again Takato, huh, huh!" the hyper-active boy asked his friend loudly. Takato grinned sheepishly. He really couldn't help it. He just liked to play the card game, but after his…experiences, he seemed to be able to observe a battle-field with more cunning than he had before, whether it was a ruined city or a simple card game. Still, Kazu was losing that challenging status he presented months ago.

Plus, a very kind Digimon Queen had showed him a few tricks and given him plenty of good power ups as a birthday present. He grinned at those memories, where he and his friends had all come together again. He wasn't saying that the ol' gang never saw each other anymore, but their visits had become much less frequent. Rika was beginning to spend more time with her mother and Henry was often unavailable to hang out with for some unknown reason. Henry had changed a lot after the D-Reaper it seemed. Takato sighed heavily. "Phhbt… oh look at Takato, all disappointed that he WON EPICLY at his last card game AS USUAL!" Kazu said waving his hand at Takato as if to gesture him away. "No need to be modes- AHCK!" A small but firm fist crashed down on Kazu's head and shut him up immediately. "What was that for Jeri!"

Takato looked up to see a frowning Jeri glaring at Kazu, her fist still resting on his head and her other hand controlling her dog puppet to look somewhat like it was snarling at the boy. "Kazu, be a little more mature why don't you! Takato won this round fair and square. You won before only because you misplayed the game and sometimes cheated a little!" she said still glaring at him. She then used her excellent ventriloquism skills to make a growl sound for her dog puppet. She then glanced at Takato before smiling warmly.

Takato's heart rate immediately started to increase. Although she had changed dramatically as well after the events of the D-Reaper (And boy was it dramatic! When she's assertive she isn't much better than her father was before…and he agrees!), Takato definitely still had a thing going for her. He adored how sweet she could be, but now it was plain to see that Leomon's dying words were anything but untrue; she really did have a lion's heart. Takato responded to Jeri's smile with one of his own. Kenta laughed at this. "Come to think of it Kazu, she does have a point. " He said between giggles. Kazu stuck his tongue out at Kenta, only to be bonked on the head by Jeri a second time.

Just then, Takato heard a small beep and he reached into his pants to pull out his new cell phone, yet another present for his birthday. He had 10 minutes until school started. "Ah! Everyone, we have to scoot, vamoose, now! We have-" he looked up to see that everyone had already left him inside the play-hut, the cards still strung out. "Oh, c'mon guys, again! What if I'm late; Ms. Nami will make sure I burn in some fiery pit of torture if I'm late for the 10th time in the last 2 weeks!" Takato shuffled all the cards back into the box and hid it before quickly scurrying after the rest of his friends.

* * *

After school…

Takato waved goodbye to Jeri and the rest of his friends as he left for home. He decided to take a different route this time, so he was walking alone tonight. That was fine for now. There was something he had to do anyway. And besides, he needed to be alone and "think about what he had done or so help me…!" as quoted by an infuriated Ms. Nami for being late for the 11th time apparently in two weeks. As punishment, he got a small amount of detention and an extra homework assignment. Despite this, Takato used the time wisely to finish that homework. This impressed Ms. Nami and in the end acted very warmly to Takato as if it hadn't happened. It was because now that Takato didn't need to save two worlds every afternoon and weekends, he was spending more time studying. He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to pursue in education, but he knew he wouldn't get much further if he had the grades he did back when…*gulp* Guilmon was still around.

Takato couldn't help it. He let another one of his sorrowful groans at the memories, but he was able to successfully push them aside. He again started thinking about some form of career. For a 14 year old kid, it wasn't all too uncommon. But for Takato who couldn't help but live in the here and now, it was a rare occasion. He started to think. "Hmmm…maybe, a manga artist!" he exclaimed out loud. "Or maybe a designer for a video game!" Takato blinked as his mind started to click together in all the right places. "Maybe I could get a job with the company that franchises Digimon and help create a new game! Then everyone could enjoy digimon!" Whether or not Takato realized it, he was definitely subconsciously filling up a big empty hole inside of him. And besides, Jeri did ask him a long time ago if he would ever stop thinking about digimon… Takato thought about this.

"Nah…"

Takato then realized that he had reached his destination…which was not his home. Instead, he looked up at the sweet golden autumn maple trees of the Shinjuku park. And in the midst of the spectacle, he saw a sight that brought back memories more beautiful than all the trees in the park and more horrifying than the battle with the D-Reaper and the Devas had been combined. It was the sight of the old cement bunker which was Guilmon's hide-away. Takato was proud in being able to not cry this time. He looked through the foliage and everywhere else in the area for something, a glimpse of blood red against the orange and gold. When he didn't see anything, Takato squinted his eyes closed and took in a deep breath. He let it out with a powerful yell. "GUUUIILMOOOOON!"

Takato opened his eyes and ears trying to perceive his scaly digital friend. But alas, as it had been time and time before, there was nothing. Nothing at all. No trace of Guilmon at all. Takato frantically double checked everything around him, but to no avail. No response came to his call. There was no Guilmon. Now Takato was crying, and he had each time he came and was thoroughly disappointed by the nothingness he found there. Not like some pretty maple trees could replace his best bud. Takato frowned angrily amidst his sorrow. "Damnit!" he cursed silently, something he rarely did. He turned around and began walking away towards home with heavy, stomping steps. "Damnit…Guilmon, where are you? Will I ever see you agai-"

"Hahehaha!"

Takato whipped around at the sound of laughter. His vision darted from one place to the next. He knew it wasn't Guilmon…but boy, was it creepy sounding! "Hello!" Takato asked loudly, "Somebody there?" No reply. Again, Takato thought he heard giggling, this time coming from the bunker. Takato really didn't want to go back there. It was just too memorable for him. But still, not only was he curious about the laughter…but something was calling him. A compelling…force much stronger than just curiosity. He had felt it only one time before, a sense of need to be somewhere. He felt it the night he searched and found Guilmon. Takato, putting his thoughts behind him, ran up the hill towards the bunker.

As soon as he approached the entrance, he peeked inside. Nothing but dirt and darkness. Takato took one last look before turning back around and starting to walk down the hill.

"Heehahahaha!"

Takato ran back to the bunker and looked inside for the source of the laughs. "Ok, whoever's in there this is not funny anymore!" he yelled. On top of bewildered, Takato was just plain spooked. "Kazu? Kenta? You in here?" Still nothing. Takato looked around inside again and finally noticed something out of the ordinary. Coming from the tunnel that Guilmon had dug during his stay here was a faint glow. What it came from, Takato didn't know, and didn't know if he wanted to find out. Still, if there was one thing he learned as a tamer, do NOT ignore odd glows. They are indefinitely significant. Slowly and shakily he approached the tunnel and looked inside.

There, at the very end of the tunnel, was an odd anomaly of a sight. It was glowing white, and small fractals and shapes kept form and deforming themselves on its surface as it bathed the small tunnel in light. Takato was very curious, and he kept telling himself that he had seen this somewhere before. It was frighteningly familiar. Takato continued to stare at the pixilated light trying to figure out what it was when it hit him. He remembered what it was. "No…cou-could it really be a. . . portal?" Takato's hopes were beginning to sky rocket as he now again heard the child like laughter, undoubtedly originating from the light now. He felt a small vibrating and beeping against his leg. Takato took a few moments to reach into his pocket for his cell phone. But when he grabbed it, he discovered that it was not what was vibrating. It was his D-Arc, still clipped to his belt loop.

Takato clumsily fumbled with the clip, his logic and thinking now to hyped to control his own body. Finally taking of the clip, Takato looked at the D-Arc in his hand…and smiled. On the screen this time there was no static. Instead, there was a small red circle and a red arrow pointing directly at the light. Takato couldn't believe it, he had actually found what he thought was a portal into the digital world. Still beaming with untold happiness, he again began fumbling in his pocket for his phone. He pulled it out and then dialed in Henry's contact. Takato waited impatiently, hearing the laughs again which he thought now must have been digimon.

The tone stopped ringing on his found and there was a shuffling on the other end. "Hello, Takato?" Henry's voice asked gloomily on the other end. "What's up?" Takato was breathing heavily. "Henry, get out of your house and grab Rika as soon as you can and meet me at the park bunker!" "Huh, why what's wrong?" Henry asked curiously on the other end. "What is it Takato?" Takato sniggered before answering. "You are not going to believe what I think I just found!"

* * *

Actually…scratch that. I think I'm gonna keep that promise after all.


	2. Prologue Part 2: Retrospective

Ok so first off, I'd like to apologize to Bandai for not saying that this isn't my originality in the first part of the prologue…how could I forget…lucky little mutter mutter. Anyway, I would like you all to meet my helper and partner for this story, Duke! My Guilmon X!

That's THE Duke, Keyon…

Whatever, stop quoting Last Airbender. He'll just sit here to make sure that I remember to praise Bandai for the series and to keep my sanity in check.

You mean insanity, you're typing for me! *kick* Ow!

That said l would like to continue on with MY story. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Prologue Part 2: Re-trospective

* * *

"As our brave hero prepares for his next stunt, Terriermon breathes deeply and contemplates all that he could be risking with this life-risking performance."

"Wow… seriously?"

"He thinks back to all the glorious moments in his life. Not only his moments of fame, but sweet memories of his friends and adventures, and his trusted partner."

"…Ha! Oh please, give it a rest! He'd be the last thing you think of."

"You give it a rest, why don't ya'! This is serious business!"

Lopmon merely leaned his head back in boredom, letting his signature brown and blue-tipped bunny ears hang down backwards. "Just show me already so we can go have some pizza, hm?" Terriermon ignored the last statement from his brother and simply looked forward out over the cliff-side. A sheer 200 ft. drop across raging waves and sharp monolithic rocks jutting out of the ocean greeted his vision. And was definitely rather intimidating. Terriermon closed his eyes and gulped. Could he really do something so dange-

"Come on! While I'm still young bro!" Lopmon yelled annoyed. Terriermon gritted his teeth and waited for a good gust of wind to blow from behind. "…now!" He jumped up and off the side of cliff, spreading out his large ears as he did so. "Terrier TORNADO!" Terriermon span in place over and over until his descent was eventually slowed. Still spinning, he began to rise higher and higher until he was probably 75 feet above the initial place he jumped from, his brother staring up at him in the sky and laughing in amazement. Terriermon slowed his spin and let his floppy ears catch the wind, slowing him from falling again. He hovered in the air, looking out over the sandstone cliffside, out over the sun-set painted sky and the shimmering ocean. Tilting his ears, he was able to turn some and he looked back to see the vast mountains with emerald pine trees, and the deep blue color of the night sky creeping up over the hills.

"YEEEEAAAAHH! I knew it would work, I knew it! The up-drafts were strong enough to carry me this high, woooohooo!" Terriermon floated out over the cliff and then back above land, giving another small boost in height from the rising winds of the sea. Lopmon stared amazed at his twin brother, happy that he was here to witness it. To think that he had at one time attempted to kill him in mortal combat (if you consider digimon mortal). Lopmon's attention jolted from his brother when he heard a rustling in the leaves. There was something in the bushes behind him, and it was coming closer…slowly but surely, closer.

Lopmon whipped around and immediately began charging up a Blazing Ice attack. He was going to make sure this big bad animal wouldn't lay a paw on him or his br-

"Lopmon? Lopmon you out there?" a meek voice called from the bushes. Lopmon's eyes bulged as he realized just who exactly that voice belonged to. Noticing his attack was about shoot out at a mile a minute towards the rustling bushes, he did the last thing he could in time…and swallowed the Blazing Ice. Just as he gulped the attack down, the owner of the voice came out of the bushes. It was a petit, swamp green dragon with round, red antler like horns. He had little flightless red wings on his back and a large tail for his size. He was a digimon known as Dracomon. "Lopmon, hey there you are!" the digimon exclaimed, now much happier in finding his friend. "…are you ok?"

Lopmon was currently coughing up blue smoke from his attack, which promptly set off inside his tummy. 'Why exactly does my stomach still contain guts?' he was wondering. Clearing his throat, he finally addressed his friend. "Yeah… cough!...yeah, I'm ok Maka," he panted in reply. "Whaddya need?" Maka beamed at his friend. "Dalton, Melissa, and Willis want us to come back. It's dinner time!"

Within an instant, Terriermon had fallen down in front of Maka, startling the Dragon type into falling down on his rear. "I heard dinner. Do we eat now?" The Dracomon jumped back onto his feet. "Hey, warn someone when you're about to do that, huh? How'd you get that high anyway?" Terriermon simply shrugged his shoulders. "Science…isn't it fun?" Maka simply sighed. "Well, I'm heading back. Unless you don't mind giving all the pizza and breadsticks to Ashu and I, I suggest you BEAT ME BACK HOME!" Maka dove back into the bushes and began running back the way he came. "Hey not fair! I like cheesy breadsticks!" Terriermon yelled as he chased after him. Lopmon ran after his twin. "Wait up for me!"

* * *

Willis tapped his foot impatiently on the wooden porch of the cabin, staring out into the dark woods. Where were his partner's? "If they don't get here soon, the pizza will get cold…" He thought that if he made this pizza it would be the perfect way to say thank you to his cousins Dalton and Melissa for inviting him to their house for a while. He appreciated coming to Oregon. Despite the drastic change in temperature, the equally powerful change in scenery and worth it. Plus, Terriermon and Lopmon really enjoyed the beach here near Port Orford anyway. And staying out in their cabin in the shore-line woods for a week was just wonderful! So, what better way tot hank his family than with home-made pizza? Of course, if the four digimon accompanying them were to be noted, there may not be much left to thank with.

"Hmmm…maybe it's for the best that those three are late now that I think about it. Feeding one digimon and three humans is definitely enough." He heard heavy footsteps behind him accompanied by lighter ones. "If that's the case then, we'll just have to eat without them. Obviously you boys don't know how to raise a digimon properly, hehe!" Willis turned to see a girl with flowing brown hair in tight blue denim shorts and a pink t-shirt that said "Roxy" on it was looking expectantly at Willis, her arms crossed in frustration. Her partner, who was a Dracomon with blue scales instead of green, poked his head out from behind her. "Well said, Lady Melissa. But be assured that Terriermon, Lopmon, and Maka are all fine exemplars when it comes to digimon partners, and I'm sure you share this belief with me deep down."

Melissa closed her eyes and smiled before returning her gaze to Willis. "Of course I think that Ashu, I'm just saying their punctuality and courtesy leaves something to be desired," she explained. "What would this world be without Maka and the Bun-Bark twins anyway?"

Willis smiled. He really thought it was funny how she named the digimon those names. Melissa and her brother Dalton were also among the people of Earth who had digimon partners, what Willis heard periodically from his Japanese friends was referred to as a 'Digidestined'. Another similarity between the two and Willis was that like Terriermon and Lopmon, both of their Dracomons, Ashu and Maka, were twin digimon from the same digi-tama. Melissa had nicknamed the Terriermon and Lopmon the Bun-Bark twins from their names and appearances. The Dracomon were nicknamed the Rawr-Rawr twins. One of his friends from Japan, a scholar like him named Koushiro (nicknamed 'Izzy' for his family name Izumi), noted this phenomenon as most peculiar in that he has documented only two accounts. Those two accounts were indeed the Bun-Barks and the Rawr-Raws. He also couldn't find any coincidence or relation between the two twins, arguing that they aren't particularly relevant to each other since they were born at different times.

Truth be told, Melissa and Dalton both met Ashu and Maka and obtained their digivices only two years ago during the virus event with Lopmon. Another interesting anomaly Izzy had noted was the differences in Dalton and Melissa's digivices. He'd seen the original digivices that he, the Obadai Digidestined, and Willis had as well as the D-3 the second generation of Digi-Destined obtained. These, however, he didn't recognize. Gennai, who Willis was told was a humanoid entity of sorts in the Digital World the Japanese Destined were sent to, didn't say he recognized them either. Dalton and Melissa's digivices were larger for one, about the size of a baseball. They more round than oval shaped and had an interesting slot on the side. Izzy still hadn't discovered the use for that slot, but inside it he discovered an array of receptors and scanners and what not. Even for Willis, who was the brainiac on the west side of the world, it was a hard time understanding Izzy's findings. It could be said again that Izzy reeeaaallly enjoyed the weeks he studied those contraptions. Willis didn't really care anyway, so long as his cousins and their digimon were happy together.

More footsteps came to the front porch. "Well I don't know about you guys but if my buddy Maka does get here, these delicious pizzas I made with you two will be all mine!" A boy with black and white camouflage styled cargo pants, a plain white t-shirt, and tousled midnight hair was approaching the two. He had his arms up behind his head in a cradling manner, tilting his head back and resting on them. Willis laughed a little. "You mean 'ours', right Dalton?" he asked the boy. Dalton merely beamed back. "Depends on how fast you all eat. I know how fast I eat, and something tells me that it's a lot faster than you two."

This time Melissa chuckled. "Phht, please, you're too much. At least we won't get stomach aches from devouring so much food in under a minute. And if our friends get back soon enough I don't believe your eating habits will be the definition of fast anymore."

Willis could here rustling leaves and child like screaming in the distance. "Speak of the devils, here they come now." In another few moments, the three missing digimon popped out of the bushes and landed in a dog pile, scrambling to get up and in the house before the other to get their hands on the food. Melissa and Ashu glared at Dalton and Willis who were both nervously trying to avert their gaze from her death stare. Melissa then looked down to her partner. "Fine exemplars, my little Dracomon?" Ashu chuckled to himself. "Perhaps I was wrong, m'lady. But you must admit that they are quite the amusing spectacle."

Lopmon was the first to make it out of the pile, covered in dirt and scratches, and managed to use his ears to spring him towards the cabin porch. "Mwahahahaha! Victory and the pizza are mi-"

"OH NO YA' DON'T!" Willis swiftly stuck his hand up in the air and caught Lopmon by his long ear. With his momentum lost, Lopmon fell down into his partner's arms with a thud. "Ow, hey! You know better than to pull on the ears. They are delicate and beautiful and I can't have you go and ruining them." Willis shook his head. "I don't know 'bout you, but I think you kept both the attitude and the evil laugh you had from when you got infected with that virus." Willis picked up the blue end of one of Lopmon's ears. "And your fancy re-colored ears."

"Oh and guess what, I also kept its appetite! Now let… me…at…that…PIZZA!" Terriermon had climbed off the ground too and began dusting himself off. "I'd let him go if I were you, Willis. I know first hand how hungry he gets. Y'know…'cause he ate me and all." Willis glared at his green and white friend as he walked inside before returning to his other. "Now, did you notice how Terriermon was able to clean himself off a little before entering our host's house? Why don't you do that before you go inside? Then you can have as much, er…. A lot of pizza, ok?" Lopmon grunted before hopping out of Willis' arms and shaking the dust off of him. He ran inside after his brother, Ashu and Maka in tow.

Dalton just shook his head. "Honsetly, it's an amazement you're able to handle those two like you do!" Willis turned to his cousin. "What are you talking about, you have twins too!" Melissa laughed loudly. "Ha! Yeah, but he has someone to share the weight with. You don't besides maybe your mother." Willis rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'd like to enjoy some of that pizza I made before it's all gone." Willis walked inside. "Ohhhh, I see." Melissa piped. "This must be why we slaved together to make THREE large pizzas."

"Just get in here and eat the pizza!"

* * *

The Bun-Barks and Rawr-Rawrs all sat down on the cabin sofa near the fire place. "THAT WAS DELICIOUS PIZZA! Honestly, why don't we sell this stuff?" Terriermon exclaimed loudly. Ashu was wiping his muzzle with a napkin. "Yes, Lady Melissa, you did a fine job cooking this dish! Kudos to you!" Melissa laboriously walked over and plopped down on the other couch opposite the digimon's. "Oh silly Ashu, Willis made it not me. I just helped grab stuff out of the fridge and got the oven ready." Willis came and sat down with her, followed closely by Dalton. "Yeah you're right," Willis stated. "But I do appreciate you two helping me. Especially Ashu for cleaning the dishes." Willis shut his eyes. "Dang, there was a ton of them," he moaned as he sunk deeper into the couch.

"Well, what are we gonna do now? Willis has to go back to Colorado tomorrow!" Maka exclaimed. "Let's have some fun! Let's play Yahtzee orrrr something else!" Willis perked up. "How 'bout some video games?" Dalton put his fist up into the air. "Woot! Home-made pizza and home-made video games! Willis I must say you are the glorious incarnation of DIY!" Willis was glad that Dalton approved. "What say you, Melissa?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, I guess. I know I'm not good at them, but being the only girl here I don't see my opinion getting through to you men."

"….Sexist," Dalton titled his sister.

"Ignorant," his sister retorted.

"O-k then!" Willis broke the scuttle. He turned to the twins. "How about you four, care for a game?" The digimon all beamed, nodded, thumbed up, and approved in any other way they could. "Alright, then I'll get her set up."

Willis had become nearly professional in programming and computer graphics. He didn't tend to use it for many things important as of yet (besides of course creating a catastrophic entity that hacked into the Pentagon in D.C., launched two nuclear missiles, and nearly wiped out his home town and Tokyo doing so….on accident of course!), but he did find it fun to create little games and such. Based on his events about many years ago, he decided to create a digimon special rpg for him and the other Digidestined to enjoy called "War Game". Willis got out his laptop and certain cords and brought them to the big, flat screen TV at the living room wall. He plugged the controllers into the cpu and the other cords into the TV. He then connected the TV's cords into the computer. With the computer booted up and logged in, Willis sifted through various setting and options choosing what he wanted done. Finally finished, he set down his computer, picked up the TV remote, and clicked on. The flat screen portrayed his desktop picture of him, Terriermon and Lopmon all in front of a large mountain range in Colorado.

Dalton was impressed. "Wow, well done Einstein. How'd you do that?" Willis just grinned as he clicked the icon for the game on his computer, the image of him doing so portrayed on the TV. A small hourglass began flipping until a window popped up and a silhouette of a very familiar villain with long arms and big claws appeared on the screen. Another second and "War Game" in gold letters appeared across the shadow and digital music started to play. "I used my leet hacker skills, that's how." Willis finally replied to Dalton. "Oh yeah, the same skills that got your little creation inside government computers and that nearly blew up Tokyo?" Willis nodded grimly. "And, changing the subject thank you, the same skills that made this game. Take your controllers." Willis, Dalton and Melissa each took one of three controllers. "Hey, no fair!" Terriermon piped up. Maka nodded his head. "Yeah, how do you plan on us playing." Dalton turned to them. "Shh. It's called taking turns. Learn this ancient art as you also learn the art of whooping digital butt in video games from us masters…"

All four digimon muttered, "I take offense from that," in perfect synchronization.

Willis started the game and loaded a save file. He and his cousins had actually already started the game and progressed some, so they were well into it. Surprisingly, they were doing much better than their digital counter parts. Willis however, despite being the game's creator, just stood back most of the time and let the twins find their way through the game. He chose a long ranged character because of this while the other two were mainly melee combat oriented. The combat style in the game was designed not only around digimon attack styles but also different weapons and armor to go with your character. It was kind of a rip off from another game Willis had played a while ago.

A selection screen popped up when the loading was done, giving access to files containing saved characters. And of course, these saved characters were digimon. Willis had been able to download a whole list of digimon characters into the game compliments of Izzy's study data on many digimon encounters. As 'Choose your Character' displayed itself in gold lettering on the screen, each person went through a drop menu of digimon. Dalton and Melissa both chose a Dracomon for their characters, colored respectively for Maka and Ashu. Willis had two characters, and everytime he had to make a choice. "Ok you two, who is it gonna be this time?" Both Terriermon and Lopmon frantically waved their arms in the air for his pick.

Willis sighed as he reached into his pocket for a coin. "Seeing as this is going no where," he started, "you two just call it in the air." Willis placed a quarter on his thumb and flipped it. Terriermon was first to call out "Tails!" before Willis caught the coin. He looked at the result. "Good choice Terriermon!" Terriermon clenched his little paws together in excitement as his twin crossed his arms. "Hmph, just watch, he'll pick me next time…"

Willis scrolled down the list of digimon until he found Terriermon. With his character selected, the screen flashed and brought up a list of items the characters had all obtained. "EQUIP YOUR WARRIOR!" the game ordered in an enthusiastic female voice. The three downloaded their best armor chips into the characters. Then came weapons. "Sooooo sis," Dalton started expectantly as he turned his gaze to his sister, "what's it gonna be this time?" Melissa flicked the analog stick on the controller and made her decision. "BASHING STYLE ANKOKUTEN SWORD EQUIPPED." The woman's voice proclaimed. Dalton nodded. "Alright then, I'll go with this one…" Dalton scrolled and clicked his desired weapon. "CRUSHING STYLE BLADES D-SLAYER EQUIPPED." Willis then scrolled and made his choice. "SHOT STYLE BLASTER GUNS EQUIPPED." Willis turned to the other two."We all set?" The two siblings nodded, focused on the screen. Willis pressed start. "START WAR GAME!"

The screen reconfigured and showed a Terriermon and two Dracomons staring inland from a cliffside. A compass on the map directed them to head in that direction. "Alright team, let's move out!" The three figures dashed forward as the screen moved with them. Eventually, a horde of Goburimon realized out of nowhere and began to attack them with their cudgels. Both Dracomons rushed forward. "Tail Smash!" The dragons landed two solid marks on their own Goburimon, and the enemies wisped away in a puff of data. With the frontline enemies out of the way, Willis was now ready for a clear shot to the soldiers in the back. "Bunny Blast!" A green flare shot from the Terriermon's mouth and blew up in the back line of soldiers. Within moments the Goburimon were wiped out. Dalton narrowed his eyes. "That was easy…too easy." A flash of blue erupted from the ground a large Ogremon burst forth from the light, carrying his bone club with him. "Good intuition Dalton, haha!" Willis chuckled. Dalton whipped his head towards Willis. "You knew that would happen, didn't you!" Willis nodded his head. "Duh, I made the game." Melissa had enough of the bantering. "I don't know about you idiots, but I'm….what was it called again Willis?" Willis sighed. "Digivolving, Melissa. A cross between Digital and Evolve. Di-gi-volve." Melissa huffed at the rude remark. "Fine, don't get all rude about it, geez!"

She opened a menu on her status bar on the screen and went to the 'Digivolve' icon. She scrolled to the only choice currently available, Champion: Coredramon. "Alright! Digivolve now!" A small animation occurred where her Dracomon glowed white. His body grew larger as did his wings, and a large red horn sprouted from his nose. The figure roared with new found strength. "I'm following suit, sis." Dalton added. Willis nodded. "As am I." The two boys each also selected their own digivolve. Dalton's Dracomon digivolved into a Coredramon as well, though it was still colored marsh green. Terriermon digivolved into the denim wearing, gunslinging dog-rabbit Gargomon.

"INITIATING OFFENSIVE PROGRAMMING!" the game voice exclaimed. "DOWNLOADING…." The Coredramons were suddenly outfitted with their own weapons, the blue with a large katana like sword and the green with dual blades that hooked on to its arms. "COMPLETE! INITIATING OFFENSIVE CAPABILITY ENHANCEMENT! DOWNLOADING…" Gargomon's machine gun hands glowed with arcing electricity. A pair of guns, the ones that Willis chose as his weapon, appeared and shared the arcing electricity as they disassembled and added on to the digimon's arsenal. The electricity faded, revealing newly refurbished guns. "COMPLETE! WARRIOR PROGRAMS READY FOR VIRAL PURGING!" Dalton grinned. "Let's show this punk whose boss. Melissa, follow my lead!" Dalton's character charged forward, his blades held out ready to slash. The slower Ogremon had hardly time to react to the dual slice it received from the blades. Its HP bar decreased in size. Melissa's Coredramon was next with it's katana, as it sliced down the middle of the Ogremon. Its HP was now at minimum.

"Now Willis!" Melissa exclaimed. Willis leaped his Gargomon in the air and aimed his guns at the Orgemon. "Gargo Laser!" The guns shot rapid bolts of green energy at the Ogremon, blowing it up as well into bits and pieces of Data. Willis smiled. This level he had created was just too easy for the three of them. And then, something intriguing to Willis occurred. The game flashed red as WARNING! Slayed out across the TV screen. But it wasn't that which surprised Willis, but more or less the placement. 'That's odd…' he thought. 'That's the signal for a boss fight…but I didn't configure a boss to pop up here….' Dalton and Melissa seemed enthused enough, so Willis just labled it as a glitch he would have to fix later. Unfortunately, he was about to find out that he was wrong.

In the cabin, all the digital clock alarms suddenly began beeping as their numbers began changing faster than the naked eye could witness. The light began flickering and mot annoyingly the microwave oven turned on. The laptop was ceasing to function, now displaying a blue screen of death with bi-numeral coding all across it. Despite that though, the TV and more peculiar the game was still functioning fine. "What the crap is going on with this place!" Dalton yelled, now obviously startled by the phenomena around them. Willis grimaced. "I have a hunch…I hope I'm wrong though…" Without warning on the TV screen, a large circle of darkness opened up in the ground and out slowly crawled a frightening digimon. It had long cable like arms and legs ending in humongous three clawed hands and somewhat smaller feet. It had a triangular head and a mouth without lips that always seemed to smile at you with sick evil intent behind it. Short orange hair flowed from the back of its head, red spine curled out of its back, and it had a small indentation in its chest that looked like some laser of sorts.

"Willis…" Terriermon addressed his partner. "Willis…is that who I think it is?" Willis nodded grimly. "Yeah, but he's supposed to be the game's last boss. And by how…real he looks…" Willis took another look over the familiar digimon. "…I don't think I created this boss….for this game at least." Willis stared right at the screen, right into the eyes staring back at him. The eyes of Diaboromon. Melissa finally pieced it together. "Wait, are you saying that that thing there is the internet virus you created? Why is it in your game!" Willis didn't have time to answer.

The Diaboromon roared. "Catastrophe Cannon!" he exclaimed in a rugged demonic sounding voice before shooting a huge laser from its chest at the digimon figures. The laser was too fast to dodge, and all three characters were hit. They instantly burst into data particles. "Well, that glitch ended fast, right Willis? Game over now, right man, game over?" But the screen did not display GAME OVER. Instead, Diaboromon merely turned its hateful gaze to its next targets…which were oddly enough outside the video game."Dammnit!" Willis cursed. "Tai and Matt destroyed him, Davis and I destroyed him, Davis destroyed him again with Ken's help! How many more times is he going to keep coming back!" The laser cannon began charging again, and it was aimed at the TV screen.

"Willis, what's happening? Why is it aiming for us? Willi-uh?" Ashu jumped in front of Melissa. "M'lady, please stay safe behind me…" Melissa was really wierded out now. "Why, what are you defending me for?" She looked around and noticed Maka, Terriermon and Lopmon were defending their partners as well. "What's the big deal guys? It's just a game right?" Willis didn't reply. His thoughts were to busy trying to make sense of this all. He was doubtful…but what if it was real? Melissa, Dalton, and the Rawr-Rawrs had never fought before. And if it took at least a Royal Knight and sometimes a knight-mega DNA digimon combined to beat this guy, Willis didn't know if he could protect him with only his two digimon who could change to champion only. Willis wished he still had that golden Digi-Mental. Having GoldRapidmon now would really set his mind at ease.

"CATASTROPHE CANNON!" Willis snapped back into reality to see Diaboromon launch his laser seemingly towards the kids. The plasma TV was smoking now and the screen was suddenly glowing blood red from the attack. Willis had no doubt no doubt about it. This was real, and it was his Diaboromon. It had come after him again…but why? The TV was now shaking against the wall as the glow got brighter. After that, all Willis remembered seeing was a large gold symbol not too different from an infinity sign before his vision blacked out.

* * *

WHAAAAAAAT! 02 IS IN THIS! Yeah, nobody saw that coming. And you may ask why exactly did I just randomly switch from the end of Tamers to an original piece of Adventures. Well, the Adventures world and Tamers world have much in common, for example Ryo.

Duke: Keyon, quiet before you ruin your own story!

Ok, fine fine. Anyway, I decided that the first and this chapter are both part of a very long prologue to get away from the original plot line effectively and officially. Also, it's interesting to see Diaboromon again, (or boring, you decide. I find that he's a lot like Orochimaru and Sephiroth...THEY NEVER DIE!) Willis, who was my favorite Destined, as well as my original characters. So please keep up, Prologue part 3 will be up soon!

Scribe away, Keyon.

Willis, Terriermon, Gargomon, Lopmon, Diaboromon, Goburimon, Ogremon, Coredramon and Dracomon are all Ban-Dai's

Yahtzee is Milton Bradley's

Melissa and Dalton are mine

And Port Orford is a real place...as well as cold. TT-TT


	3. Prologue Part 3: Redeem

Alright! Here's the third part!

Duke: Took you long enough!

Oy, cut a guy some slack, huh! I have a college bio class that fits an entire semester's worth week of education into 6 WEEKS!

Duke:...What's that mean?

It meeeans...I'M GOING THROUGH A CHAPTER A DAY WHILE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND A TEACHER WHO CAN'T HELP BUT DIGRESS FROM THE SUBJECT EVERY OTHER SENTENCE!

Duke: Ok, Ok, calm done. Remember, I don't go to this... 'school' of which you speak.

Mutter, mutter, gripe... Anyway, I apologize for that, haha...

Duke: He lieeeees...

SMACK!

So, on with the story. Seeing as I just dislocated my partners jaw, I will do the honors.

- I do not hold the rights or wish to hold the rights...ok that's a lie, I do... to Digimon or any of their creations. I also give thanks to my Beta reader, Ragnorok Emissary (who is epicly epic in writing and editing. ^^) and to any and all readers-

Duke: ...paaaain

That'll teach you to mouth off...

* * *

Prologue Part 3: Re-deem

* * *

The sound of thick-soled business shoes against the tiled floor and small metal pieces continually tapping each other sounded throughout the hallway.

_Tap, slink, tap, zhcit, tap, clink, tap, slink, tap, zhcit, tap, clink… _The blonde haired man in black walked briskly down the darkly lit passage, his upset eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. But they didn't hide the grimace he wore on his face. He was wondering what exactly had caused those three to think that he could do anything for them. After the D-Reaper crisis and Shinjuku nearly being destroyed, he was lucky that he even got to continue the Hypnos program, let alone lead it. Of course, leading that program wasn't much. There were only two actual employees, and he only followed the directions of the higher ups. If there was so much of a digital bug, he could do nothing unless those ranked higher told him to. And that number of people had grown steadily larger with that near Armageddon occurring in their front yard.

"Hmmph…next time their city, no… country is in danger, I'll just make sure they don't get any help. They complained about it like kids do with spinach leaves, but completely over looked the fact that Hypnos, Janyu, Mizuno-sama (Shibumi by most), the rest of the Monster Makers, and especially the children had done all they could just to get rid of that catastrophic program and come out of it with their lives." He paused his walking and lighter flicking, and then removed his shades and rubbed his forehead.

"Mitsuo…you bastard you…" Mr. Yamaki muttered to himself. So the children had done the most out of everyone. They had fought off Hell itself. How were they thanked? Their truest solace, their best friends and partners were forcibly taken from them, like ripping up a piece of their souls. And when they came to him and said they found a possible way into the digital world, what was his response? No, and a promise that the small zone in the park bunker would be destroyed and the bunker itself sealed shut with concrete. His only hope of still having a soul himself was the fact that to destroy the portal was not truly his idea but just another order.

Yamaki took in a deep breath before sighing it out and putting his shades back on. His neutral composure restored, he reached the end of the hallway with his previous thoughts sealed to the back of his mind. There in front of him stood a heavy metal door and a fingerprint scanner on the side. He brought his thumb up and placed it on the scanner. After the pad glowed green, he took his thumb away, revealing an hourglass pixel on the pad. It then changed to a smiley face. "PRINT RECOGNIZED AS… YAMAKI, MITSUO," a digital voice said. The doors opened. "MOSHI-MOSHI YAMAKI-SAN."

"Moshi-Moshi indeed, Yamaki-sama." Yamaki jumped when he heard the unexpected voice call his name. He brought his gaze forward to reveal Janyu Wong leaning up against the wall. His face looked anything but pleasant; a disturbed gaze that penetrated Yamaki's thinking and made him wonder why the man looked so. "Anyone pay a visit to you today?" Janyu asked the man. Yamaki grumbled and gritted his teeth. So Henry had told his father what happened?

…No, Henry was too honorable to do such a thing. More likely, Janyu noticed a disturbance in his son's emotions and queried why he looked so down, or something on those lines. Yamaki knew he wasn't an expert on the children, but he did know each individuals morals of life. For example, Henry's willingness to sacrifice himself and put everyone before him, Rika's desire to protect what was right and even more so her friends, and Takato's never give up and keep dreaming personality. Again, Yamaki questioned the consequences of his recent actions towards the Tamers in his mind. Had he damaged them, scarred them? They would never be the same because of his choices. Yamaki snapped back to reality with Janyu clearing his throat. "I asked you a question, Mitsuo. It deserves an answer," the man demanded of him, a roaring flame of anger being bottled inside Janyu that was just trickling out with those words. Yamaki spat and began flicking his lighter again. "Don't treat me like a child, Janyu. Why are you here? Better yet, how did you get in here?"

"I let him in, sir," Riley said as she approached the two from the shadows of the dark round room. Since she was not currently on the look out for digital anomalies, she was in a normal outfit of clothing. Her long flowing red hair complimented the peach skirt and blouse she was wearing, and she proved to be a very dashing spectacle. "I figured an old friend and comrade couldn't do too much harm. Nice having some company during the late shift." Yamaki saw where this was headed. "Riley, this is restricted ground for unauthorized personnel. You know that doing this could get you fired and your life ruined possibly by some…stuck up official on a bad day." Riley simply shrugged her shoulders. "As I said; not too much harm. Now, are you going to answer Janyu's question?"

"Thanks Riley, but it's best he doesn't answer," Janyu interjected "We need to talk urgently about this, so it's best we just move forward." Janyu stared at Yamaki's eyes right through the conspiracy agent's shades. "You know why I'm here Yamaki. Why? Why won't you even attempt to help the kids? Takato, Rika, and my son and daughter may have 'moved on' as they constantly tell me…" Janyu breathed heavily "But I can see in them, in their hearts, that they're lying. And not just them, but Ryo, Jeri, Kazu, Kenta, all of them!" Yamaki paused the flicking of his lighter and took off his shades. They wouldn't block anything more than the sun. "It's not like I don't want to, Janyu!" Yamaki yelled at the man. "Dammnit, why can't you see that I would be willing to do something for those kids but I don't have that kind of power anymore! Hypnos can't truly be called mine anymore, and without authority to use our programs to their fullest potential without "adult supervision" we may as well just kiss all chances of helping them good bye."

Janyu shook his head in doubt. "That's not true Mitsuo. And you know it. There is always a way, there always has been a way. The kids proved that even more than any of us ever had!" Yamaki began shaking his head as well, a dark and out of place laugh now rising from him. "Janyu, Janyu… when will you stop believing in fairy tales…?" He flipped his Zippo out again and began his habitual stress relieving motion. It wasn't long however until Janyu grabbed it out of his hand and threw it across the room, the lighter clanking every time it hit something metal. Janyu then proceeded to grab Yamaki by the lapels and forced him up against a wall. Riley burst forward. "Mitsuo, Janyu! Stop th-"

"NO!" Yamaki yelled at the red head "This is between him and I!" The head of Hypnos returned his eyes to the man putting him into submission. Only he didn't meet his opponent's eyes, merely the top of his head; Janyu's head was leaned forward. Sobs could be heard coming from him as his entire body shook violently. Yamaki stared in slight amazement at the man's reaction until he realized finally why he was crying. "You still blame yourself…don't you…?" Janyu wiped his eyes before looking at Yamaki again. Though still very watery, his eyes were fierce; almost threatening to do something horrible if the look's recipient didn't do what they were told next. "Please…" Janyu mumbled. "You have to help them… somehow, please help them…" Yamaki couldn't decide about this man and his thoughts. Why did he wish to help the Tamers recover their partners; because he wanted to make them feel better, or himself? The weight of blame and regret must have been suffocating the Wong father by now. But…Yamaki really wanted to lean towards the better of the choices.

"Heh. I guess I'll take that as 'I still believe in Santa Clause'." Yamaki chuckled. As Janyu's grip on Yamaki's jacket loosened, he slowly got out of the grapple and proceeded to put his hand on his friend's shoulder. Janyu smiled, and Yamaki did his best to grin back. "Janyu…what can we do? I myself don't even know. We don't even have the resources we used to. The higher officials of the secret service cut off the power supply to this room after hours anyway. So," Yamaki inhaled a big gulp of air. "Even if we were to come up with a working solution for not only linking ourselves to the digital world again but also for doing so under the government's nose, we'd have to wait until tomorrow." Yamaki really did smile this time "So why don't you just go and get a good night's rest…and then I'll see if I over looked anything that might help the kids out in the slightest."

With Yamaki's last statement, loud but slow and distinct clapping resounded from the shadows of the Hypnos base. Yamaki turned to see Shibumi there applauding and next to him were others. To Yamaki's pleasure and horror Henry, Rika, and Takato were also standing there with him. They were all looking at Yamaki; Shibumi was smiling slightly, but the Tamer's faces didn't display much. Maybe…anticipation, as if they were expecting something? Maybe it was wonderment since they just heard Yamaki contradict himself on not helping them. Nevertheless, he definitely felt insecure with all their stares focusing in on him only. And that's when Yamaki's mind began working again.

"He-Hey! How did you all get in here! I thought Janyu was the onl-" Yamaki groaned as he cut himself off. He slowly turned his gaze to rest on Riley, who was now doing her best to keep her gaze fixated on seemingly interesting specimens of technology. But, her eyes kept flitting back to her blonde haired boss. "Alright, alright! So Janyu wasn't the only one I let in, geez!" she confessed throwing her arms in the air as if the cops had caught her red-handed. Shibumi laughed. "It appears that you might have to apologize to Yamaki on our part for our intrusion. Sorry Riley." Shibumi said on account of him and the children. He laughed nervously as Riley glared at his position. And yet, the tamer's eyes were all still trained on Yamaki.

Shibumi looked towards Yamaki, maintaining a small smile. "Yamaki, will you really reconsider and try to help us?" Yamaki was currently busy with trying to find his Zippo lighter in the dark. "Shibumi, I'll do what I can to help you all out," Yamaki replied without looking at the Monster Maker. "However, we don't know how it will all turn out. The digimon had to leave before, who says there might be another…phenomenon in a manner of speaking that will force them to leave again," he replied, avoiding any sensitive facts that might invoke more grief in Janyu. Yamaki silenced himself as he heard light, slow treading footsteps approach him. He looked away from his lighter to see Takato staring at him intensely. "Do you promise?" he asked the blonde agent, his fierce eyes now beginning to tear a little "Do you promise you'll help us?" Yamaki's mouth was gaping as he was speechless in front of the former Tamer. Yamaki saw that Takato was really soft because of this; a possibility to bring back his partner, his creation, his best friend. But his eyes also reflected an all too familiar determination that Yamaki had grown to trust.

Yamaki thought back to when he asked himself if he had broken the Tamer's spirits. Now… he had no doubt that he hadn't. Not Takato's at least. Yamaki couldn't help but smile now, which at first surprised Takato into losing his piercing gaze. "Y-Yamaki?" Yamaki chuckled some. "Takato, I will do all within my power to bring your partners back, especially…oh…" Yamaki looked back to the other Tamers near Shibumi "What did you call that crazy red lizard Rika? Dino-boy?" Yamaki could see Rika's attitude lighten slightly and Henry trying to keep a stern face over a rising case of laughing. And then quite to Yamaki's surprise, he staggered back some as Takato tackled him with a surprisingly tight hug. "Thank you, Yamaki! Thank you so much!" he exclaimed in great gratitude, no longer holding back the tears. Henry finally broke out into laughter, though Yamaki could tell there were tears on his face as well being as he could hear both he and Rika sniffling. Henry breathed deeply. "H-Hey, Takato, c'mon. You trying to suffocate the guy before he can do anything he promised?" Rika, so very silently, muttered, "…Gogglehead…"

"Yes, please Takato! This is…" Yamaki looked up to the snickering form of Riley as she tried to hide her face "This is very informal Matsuki! Now, if you don't…mind!" he exclaimed as he pulled Takato from him and put the Tamer on his own two feet. He straightened his jacket before patting the boy on the shoulders, causing Takato to look back up after rubbing his face dry. "S-sorry about that Mr. Yamaki…" Takato sniffed, Yamaki merely smiled. "Now don't think it's going to be that easy. You might right now, but we still have to seal up that zone in the park bunker, which kills off lead number one." Takato frowned. "But…why? It could be helpful, y'know?" Yamaki grimaced. "Yes, but there are others who think that it is more harm than help…and those who don't think of it as help at all. However…I'm sure we can find another way to do this." Yamaki looked up to his cohorts. "Riley, call Tally! Tell her to come back to base stat! She's working overtime with us tonight. We don't need electricity, let's use a pad of paper and pencil for once." Riley said nothing, just merely nodded her head before running back to the control desk and picking up a phone. "Shibumi! Janyu!" Yamaki addressed the Monster Makers, who shot to attention. "Get the rest of the Wild Bunch. Whatever plan we are going to formulate, we will need their help. Most likely, we'll probably also need another base of operations." Yamaki looked up at a now inactive camera on the ceiling "We don't know what prying eyes may not appreciate our little idea, so we shouldn't do the bulk of our work here."

Janyu nodded. "I'll call the team tonight." He turned to Shibumi "Gorou, if you don't have anything planned, why don't you stay with Yamaki tonight while I get the gang together. He could use your insight, I'm sure." Shibumi nodded his head in approval. "Right. Tell everyone I said hi, 'Tao.'" The man replied, referring to Janyu's nickname, Janyu rolled his eyes. "Oh please, don't start the codenames again…Henry! Let's go home son, I'm sure everyone would like to hear the news, hm?" Henry, who had managed to stop crying, walked over to his dad. Janyu turned his head to the other Tamers. "Takato, Rika, would you two like a ride home? You live a bit farther than we do from here, so it must be quite a walk."

Rika blinked as she considered the offer. "Umm…that's ok. I'm sure I can get home on my own, and I need to thi-"

"Sure, thank you Mr. Wong!" Takato said, his attitude had greatly improved since he arrived at Hypnos "It's been a while since I hung out with Henry anyway!" Henry was smiling now too. "Yeah, definitely."

Rika moaned. "Ohhhh…why the heck not? Thanks Mr. Wong, I'd appreciate the ride." She walked over to the other kids and Janyu. Shibumi quickly walked over to them before they got out the door. "Janyu, I've been thinking…" he started as Janyu and the Tamers turned to look at him. "I've been thinking, maybe there could be a way to contact the digimon before we link back to them. I mean, this could give them a heads up on what's going on as well as give a little hope to you three and the rest of the Tamers," he finished while gesturing to Henry, Rika, and Takato "And truth be told, this operation is not going to be quickly administered. It could take months…even years to complete. So you might get a little impatient to talk with them."

Takato blinked. "You mean…like an e-mail?" Shibumi grinned. "Well, in simpler terms, you could say that. Only we can't present a way to reply for them." Despite the small con of the idea, Takato and the rest were now all smiles. "We could really do that!" Henry asked hopefully. Shibumi nodded happily. "Sure. In fact, seeing as you are following in your father's footsteps, would you like to learn how and create the system with me?" "Yes, definitely!" he replied "When can I meet you?" Shibumi looked at his father in a way of asking the same question. Janyu simply shrugged his shoulders. Shibumi looked back down. "How about we meet at the park tomorrow and we'll discuss what we will attempt before heading over to my lab?"

Yamaki watched all of this in utter amazement. Just moments ago, everyone seemed so…tense. The feeling in the air was dark and heavy, unpleasant for everyone. And in just moments, it changed. Everyone was filled with hope and aspiration now. And Yamaki knew that, in truth, it was because he just said yes instead of giving up before the struggle started. His only worry was how the officials would handle this. Given another moment to think, Yamaki shook his head. 'Who says the officials need to know?' he thought to himself as he watched the Tamers. Especially a certain kid who wouldn't give up on his biggest dreams.

* * *

Duke: Look! Yamaki smiled! That's like Gin opening his eyes!

O c'mon. Yamaki isn't that negative. He's actually quite nice, just a little dark.

Duke: -.-

...Ok maybe really dark. But he got teh luvs!

Duke: Yay! Arby and Chief referance!

As well as one to the Japanese opening. Props if you caught that :3. So, this concludes the prologue (Duke: The reaaaaaly big prologue) and I will now enter into the time warp.

Duke: Yay, actual story wri-...wait... Time Warp?

Yes. My story is going to take place a few years into the future.

Duke: But waitwaitwaitwait WAIT! This just screams continuity errors! What about the Parasimon crisis!

Ah yes, about that. Well, I learned that that happens only a few months later after my gears started cranking.

Duke: So because you are somewhat lazy, you didn't just rethink your story.

No, it was because since this is fanfic and you are allowed some originallity...which I like, I decided to keep it a good story instead of butchering it in my opinion. To all who are pissed at this, I am sorry, but I am going to do my best to resolve it.

Duke:...I see where this is going...I know what you're eeeevil scheme is...

Oh do you now...o.e

Both: Thanks again for reading everyone!

BTW, sorry bout the whole jaw thing.

Duke: Eh, don't worry bout it, I burned your entire wardrobe at a whim when we met, so it's cool.


End file.
